This document provides an overview of key French sounds and spellings. It begins by introducing vowels and some tricky consonants. It then covers nasal phonemes, regular graphemes like ou and au, and graphemes that can have multiple sounds like ch. The document also discusses silent letters and the rules of elision and liaison when words are joined together. In under 3 sentences, it summarizes the main phonetic elements of French covered in the text.

1. KEY FRENCH SOUNDS & SPELLINGS
(A VERY GENERAL & SIMPLIFIED
REFERENCE)
Prior learning: Following on from the
alphabet!
Jo Rhys-Jones, November 2011
Talkabout Primary Languages

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS:
 vowels
 tricky consonants
 nasal phonemes on/an/en, in/ain/ein
 regular graphemes ou, au/eau, gn, ph
 graphemes which make more than one
sound
 silent letters
 elision & liaison

3. VOYELLES:
a e é è-ê
i-y o u

4. A
a
chat

5. E – SAME SOUND MADE BY EU / ŒU
le
me
e ne
je
neuf
œuf
deux

6. É – SAME SOUND MADE BY ER/EZ
décembre
é regarder
levez la main!
café
bébé éléphant

7. È-Ê SAME SOUND MADE BY
AI/EI/ET
è-ê tête
frère pêche
père
mère
zèbre

8. I-Y
dix
i-y six
Yvonne
stylo
lit bicyette

9. o - SAME SOUND MADE BY
O O – CAN ALSO BE A SHORT
Ô/AU/EAU SOUND
piano carotte
vélo, pot, hôtel, pomme, bol,
beau, chaud docteur

10. U
 Put your finger in your
mouth like a lollipop.
u
 Remove your finger
but keep your lips still.
 Without moving your
lips, try to say ‘ee’
 That is the French
sound ‘u’.
sucette

11. TRICKY CONSONANTS:
c g h s
t w y

12. c SOFT WHEN FOLLOWED BY E
OR I
USUALLY A HARD SOUND same sound as ç
cinéma
carotte
police, France, cent,
crayon, sac, café, cinq, délicieux,
banc, caméra... garçon...

13. g SOFT WHEN FOLLOWED BY E
USUALLY A HARD SOUND OR I
gorille garage
gomme, guitare, pigeon, orange, genou,
catalogue, regarder... girafe,

14. H IS SILENT
h
thé
héros
hôtel

15. s HARD WHEN BETWEEN 2
USUALLY A SOFT SOUND VOWELS
poisson oiseau
sac, soupe, cuisine, visite,
classe, danser... rose, musique, chemise

16. t
USUALLY THE SAME
EXCEPTIONS – CAN CHANGE
TO S SOUND WHEN
SOUND AS IN ENGLISH FOLLOWED BY I
tomate dictionnaire
tulipe, tarte, direction, addition,
moto, minute... patience, essentiel…
Do these words make a
normal t sound in

17. W IS ONLY USED IN WORDS THAT
ARE BORROWED FROM OTHER
LANGUAGES
w
- MAKES THE SAME SOUND AS IN ENGLISH
kiwi wagon
EXCEPT:
le wc

18. y BUT SAME SOUND AS IN
USUALLY SAME SOUND
ENGLISH WHEN BETWEEN 2
AS FRENCH I
VOWELS
stylo crayon
Yvonne, cycliste, Nancy joyeux, loyal,
lycée, pyjama... incroyable, voyage…

19. NASAL PHONEMES, :
on/an/en
Purists will rightly argue there is a very subtle difference between on and an/en
but it’s highly unlikely to be noticable up to GCSE level so I leave that to teacher
discretion and the level of your class…
in/ain/ein

20. ON/AN/EN: ALSO
OM/AM/EM
bonjour
on danse om
an dentiste
tombola lampe
am
en chambre
décembre
em
mouton enfants

21. IN/AIN/EIN: ALSO
IM
vin
in intelligent
ain train
demain
lapin
im
ein peinture
important
pain ceinture

22. REGULAR GRAPHEMES:
ou e/eu/oeu oi
é/ez/er au/eau/ô
è/ai/ei/et ph gn

23. OU: ALWAYS MAKES THE SAME
SOUND
ou
bouche
souris
moutarde

24. E/EU/ŒU: ALWAYS MAKE THE SAME
SOUND
le
e me
ne
eu je
neuf
œu œuf
deux

25. OI: ALWAYS MAKES THE SAME SOUND
oi
trois
étoile
histoire

26. É/EZ/ER: MAKE THE SAME SOUND
décembre
é levez la main! nez
ez janvier
er
café
jouer

27. AU/EAU/Ô: MAKE THE SAME SOUND
o hôtel
jaune moto
ô oiseau
au
eau
bateau
taureau

28. È/Ê/AI/EI/ET: ALL MAKE THE SAME
SOUND
è frère
fête
ê chaise baleine
ai neige
Paul et Liliane
ei
et robinet j’aime

29. PH: MAKES THE SAME SOUND AS
FRENCH F
ph
téléphone
alphabet
éléphant

30. GN: ALWAYS MAKES THE SAME
SOUND
gn
araignée
signal
champignon

31. GRAPHEMES WITH MORE THAN ONE
SOUND:
ch ill
ail/eil/euil/ouil

32. ch BUT HARD SOUND WHEN A
USUALLY A SOFT
GREEK WORD – OFTEN
SOUND:
BEFORE R OR L
Chef Chrétien
Charlotte, marché, chat orchestre, chœur,
champagne, chocolat... chronique, technique…

33. ill SOME EXCEPTIONS WHEN
USUALLY A SOFTENED
THE L SOUND IS
SOUND:
PRONOUNCED:
Famille Million
fille, vanille, gorille village, ville, mille
gentille, habiller… tranquille

34. AIL/EIL/EUIL/OUIL: MAKE SIMILAR Y SOUND
AT THE
END
abeille
ail
eil travail bouteille
euil soleil
feuille
ouil nouille
médaille
bouillir

35. Silent letters
USUALLY THE FINAL BUT THE LETTERS B C F K L
CONSONANT IS NOT Q R USUALLY ARE
PRONOUNCED: PRONOUNCED:
mouton club
éléphant, lit, lapin snob, flic, chef, anorak
trois, froid, abricot… avril, cinq, hiver
Exceptions: ours, sud, autobus, tennis, Exceptions: blanc, porc, clef, -er infinitives
some names,

36. ELISION/LIAISON:
when a word that ends in a normally silent consonant is
followed by a word that begins with a vowel or silent h, then
the consonant is pronounced – usually...
petit le petit éléphant